SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Freddie Freeman said he and his oldest son, Charlie, have watched video of Freddie’s walk-off grand slam in Game 1 of last fall’s World Series over and over again.
The video of dad badly rolling his ankle during a play at first base on Sept. 25 – that Freddie has only watched once.
“I’ve seen it,” Freeman said. “It’s gross.
“That’s enough. I don’t want to see it again.”
Freeman missed the final four games of the regular season after the injury and was hobbled by it during the postseason (though he still was named World Series MVP). He underwent surgery in the offseason to repair the damage and only began running again after arriving in Arizona earlier this month.
Twelve weeks to the day after the surgery, Freeman got his first game action of the spring Thursday, going 1 for 3 as the DH against the Colorado Rockies.
“It’s good enough. I wish it felt like my left one does,” said Freeman, who plans to DH again Saturday then test his ankle at first base on Sunday (with the Dodgers off on Monday).
“I felt pretty good today actually. Saw the pitches well. Felt like I swung at strikes. The last one was a little up, but I just wanted to swing a lot today. That was my goal, to see where the timing was, if I was early or late and things of that nature. But I feel pretty good with the swing.”
Despite the late start to his preparations, Freeman has insisted he will be ready to play first base when the Dodgers open the season in Tokyo on March 18. But Dodgers manager Dave Roberts admitted not everyone was always sure about that.
“There was a point … I don’t know if it was January where he wasn’t moving very well, wasn’t recovering, still was in a lot of pain where Opening Day didn’t even seem feasible,” Roberts said Thursday. “But he’s put in a lot of work. It’s come along. He’s certainly not 100 percent yet. But I think now we’re all confident that when we get to Tokyo he’ll be at first base.”
Freeman plans to increase his defensive work in the next couple of days. Jumping up to corral high throws and landing on his right leg will be a particular focus.
“I think that’s the last one,” he said of maneuvering around first base. “It’s more of the high throw, and coming and landing back down. That’s kind of our last little hurdle.”
Freeman said he expects to get daily treatment and play with his ankle taped for the first half of the season. Roberts said monitoring Freeman’s ankle will be an “ongoing” thing and held out the possibility that he might need to give Freeman more time off than usual.
Freeman missed 15 games last season with a broken finger, the ankle injury and his son’s illness. He missed a total of 11 games in the previous six seasons and, even at age 35, doesn’t give ground willingly when it comes to missing games.
“We haven’t had that conversation yet. We’ll see,” Freeman said. “You guys know I will fight tooth and nail to be in the lineup every day but I do understand keeping me on the field as much as I possibly can. Maybe we’ll (skip a) day game after night game the first couple weeks.”
ALSO
Shohei Ohtani is expected to make his first appearance of the spring on Friday night against the Angels at Camelback Ranch. Ohtani will start at DH against Angels left-hander Yusei Kikuchi. … Roberts said rookie right-hander Roki Sasaki could “potentially” see his first Cactus League action on Tuesday against the Cincinnati Reds.